March 25, 2016

There are about 60 cultural references discovered in Fallout 4 so far. Since we can't cover all of them, we're bringing you the incredibly great ones, like references to great movie franchises, America's history, games, and much more. This article is two pages long, with about 15 Fallout 4 cultural references on each page.

Game References

Donkey Kong
The game Red Menace is a reference to the 1981 Nintendo game Donkey Kong.

Commodore 64
The boot-up screen of the Pip-Boy 3000 Mark IV has 64kb of RAM and 38911 bytes free.

Missile Command
The game Atomic Command is a reference to the 1980 Atari game Missile Command.

Grand Theft Auto
In the South Boston Police Department, there is an entry on the evidence terminal pertaining to a suspect named Nicole Connelly, who is accused of the crime of grand theft auto. Her name is shortened to "NiCo" in the evidence log entries. Niko Bellic is the name of the protagonist in the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV.

The Elder Scrolls: Arena

A telephone pole just east of Sanctuary outside the Robotics Disposal Ground reads TES 01 PPL 364946. In March of 1994, TES1 was released.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Sweet Rolls can be found throughout the game. And perhaps most notably, one can be found in East Boston Police Station on the desk of a detective. A play on the situation given for character creation in Morrowind.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The cover of one Taboo Tattoos magazine has the iron helmet from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The iron helmet is an armor piece from the game that was made famous by being featured heavily in the marketing of the game as being the chosen headgear of the "Dragonborn".

Crippling a Raider's leg may cause them to groan about a "bullet in the knee." The specificity and wording of "the knee" instead of "my knee" make it similar to the often-repeated Skyrim town guard dialogue "I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took an arrow in the knee..."

This article continues from a page one.Blade Runner
In the middle of the Diamond City, there is a robot Takahashi, who sells noodles, and the only line he speaks is "Nani ni shimasho ka?", which means "What should we order?". This is the very same phrase (including imperfect grammar) as said by the noodle seller in the "Noodle Bar" scene of the Blade Runner movie.

On the southwest corner of the Mass Fusion containment shed rooftop is the body of a man in a random outfit lying supine in front of a kneeling, deactivated Synth. The setup alludes to the 'Tears in rain' scene at the end of the film.
The SAFE test is an allusion to Blade Runner's Voight-Kampff test, meant to discern whether someone is a human or replicant.
The art for the Achievement Hunter/Hunted invokes Deckard being stalked by a vault boy.

Star Wars
The title of the fourth U.S. Covert Operations Manual is called "Not the Soldiers You're Looking For" which refers to the Jedi mind trick Obi-Wan uses on Stormtroopers during A New Hope.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Arlen Glass's Office, in the Wilson Atomatoys Corporation Building, contains two terminals which hold references to the Television show. 3 consecutive logs make nods to three Episodes: "The Last Roundup", "Too Many Pinkie Pies" and "Lesson Zero."

A second terminal mentions Arlen's surprise at a lack of interest in the line of toys in comparison to how it used to be, wondering if he should instead start creating a boy-centric line of collectible, limited edition variants. This could be referencing the primarily male fanbase that cropped up over the show, and the subsequent increase of collectible's licensed to others by Hasbro, whose main reason for rebooting the show, was to sell toys.

Another entry mentions Arlen's ideas; Some notable ones include Different color coats and Identifying marks to distinguish between multiple types as well as a line of Pegasi and Unicorn variants. Also mentioned is the possibility of crystal-coated variants, which could be in reference to the Crystal Ponies of the show, and their real-world toy counterparts.

Cheers
The Bar from the 1980's American Sitcom Cheers is by the Boston Commons as Prost bar. Inside is riddled with references to the series, which was set in Boston. The word "prost", after which the in-game bar is named, is german for "cheers".

The Walking Dead
Inside Union's Hope Cathedral there is a hostile ghoul by the name Father Gabe wearing preacher vestments fighting several feral ghouls. This is a reference to the character Father Gabriel from The Walking Dead who survives the zombie apocalypse by hiding inside his church until the main characters find and rescue him.

A tractor can be found crashed into a fence, with a ghoul lying at the front end of the tractor, near a dead settler who's trapped under it. This is a reference to a scene from the first episode of the first season of Telltale Games's The Walking Dead.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
The beginning of the quest Kid in a Fridge is a reference to a scene in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, where Indiana Jones survives a nuclear blast by hiding in a lead-lined refrigerator.

Sons of Anarchy
Head to the BADTFL regional office, which is slightly North West of Bunker Hill. Make the way down to the basement, and there is a Terminal (novice). Hack into the terminal or use Nick Valentine and look for "Prisoner 4CA8712". One will notice that all the features of the prisoner are strikingly similar but the name Opie Hurst is a combination between Opie Winston and his portrayer Ryan Hurst.

Other Cultural References

The American Revolution
The standard Minuteman weapon is a Laser musket, just as the Musket was during the revolutionary war. John Hancock shares his name with one of the first men to sign the Declaration of Independence. The quest The Battle of Bunker Hill is also named after one of the opening battles of the American Revolution.

King Arthur
The Prydwen shares its name with King Arthur's ship from the Welsh poems 'Preiddeu Annwfn' and 'Culhwch ac Olwen.'

Bad Fonts
One of Codsworth's jokes "Comic Sans, Arial and Papyrus walk into a bar..." is a reference to commonly misused, and overused fonts.

The Cask of Amontillado
When the Sole Survivor finds General McGann's body in The Castle Tunnels, he is lying next to wine crate containing some bottles of "Amontillado" wine. Opposite him is a skeleton behind a half-built brick wall. These are references to Edgar Allan Poe's famous story The Cask of Amontillado. In addition, if the player "inspects" the object in their inventory, the name "Montressor" is on the bottle. Montressor was one of the main characters in The Cask of Amontillado. The name "P. Edgar" in smaller print on the bottom of the label is another reference to Edgar Allen Poe. On a side note, Poe was inspired to write the story during his time serving at Fort Independence, also known as The Castle.

Underground Railroad
The Railroad is an allusion to the Underground Railroad, which was known for moving escaped slaves across the United States using a series of safe houses, and stations.

Todd Howard
Fo4 Todd Howard as Napoleon
Several paintings found throughout the game feature the likeness of Bethesda employees, most notably Todd Howard in the place of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Wizard of Oz
Tin Man, a protectron found at Easy City Downs, is a reference to The Wizard of Oz.

Rockville, Maryland
The Weapon 'Rockville Slugger' is named after the city of Rockville, the current location of Bethesda Game Studios.

Thank you Fallout, for reminding us on those many of the weirdest and greatest references throughout Fallout 4. For more cultural references in Fallout 4 visit the Fallout Wiki, which was the source of this article. How many of cultural references in Fallout 4 have you noticed so far and which are your favorite?